The rise of the Nazis

• What caused the Depression?

  • America had grown rich after the First World War, by manufacturing goods such as cars and fridges in America and selling them all over the world
  • Some Americans even had money to spare and bought shares in companies and businesses, hoping to make a profit
  • Some borrowed money from banks in order to join this share-buying trend
  • However, in October 1929, the Wall Street Crash occurred
  • Many Americans hadn't made as much money as hoped from their shares and decided to sell them very quickly
  • But the share prices dropped as more and more people tried to sell their shares
  • Millions of Americans couldn't sell their shares for as much as they had paid for them
  • Some couldn't pay the banks back either and were left ruined as debt collectors took their cars and homes
  • Soon, many Americans couldn't afford to buy any new goods at all and as a result, firms went out of business and millions lost their jobs
• The impact on Germany

  • Americans didn't just buy goods that were made in the USA; they also bought items from Germany, Italy, Britain and Japan
  • The Depression meant that Americans couldn't afford these things anymore, so foreign factories had to shut down
  • Germany was hit particularly hard by the Depression
  • Goods made in German factories, such as cars, electrical goods and clothing, were not selling, so factories had to close down and millions became jobless
  • To make matters worse, American banks demanded back all the money they had lent to Germany after the First World War
  • German banks tried to get this money back from German businesses, which could not pay, and so went bankrupt
  • People were soon living on the streets - jobless, hungry, angry and full of resentment
• The growth in support for extreme parties

  • Unemployment and hunger changed the way many Germans thought and behaved
  • Millions blamed the Weimar government for their problems
  • People were prepared to listen to political parties (like left wing Communists and right wing Nazis) whose leaders promised them radical solutions to all Germany's problems, and ways of making their lives better
• The growth of the Nazi Party

  • By 1928, Hitler and the Nazis were very well known, but they were still only the eighth most popular political party in Germany
  • They received only 800,000 votes in elections, with less than 3 percent of the populations voting for them
  • In 1928, few Germans would have predicted that Hitler could ever become leader of Germany, yet, by July 1932, the Nazis were the most popular party, recording nearly 14 million votes
• Factors for Hitler and the Nazi's popularity - The Depression


  • The Depression hit Germany hard
  • Businesses collapsed, unemployment soared and banks closed, but this helped Hitler
  • Those voters who had paid little attention to Hitler in the 1920s now started listening to him
  • The Nazis continued to repeat their core beliefs: that the Treaty of Versailles was a crime to Germany, that Jews should be blamed for the economic problems, and that Germany should be reborn as a strong and powerful country
  • Their message was still the same as in the early 1920s, except that now desperate Germans wanted to believe them and to vote for them
• Factors for Hitler and the Nazi's popularity - Germans were unhappy with the Weimar government


  • The Weimar politicians couldn't seem to agree on how to help the unemployed and get Germany out of the Depression
  • They argued constantly and achieved very little
  • First one Chancellor Muller, and then another, Bruning, made little impact
  • At one point, Bruning was passing laws by using the President's emergency decrees under Article 48
  • However, when Bruning tried to pass laws to seize rich people's land and give it to poor peasants, the new President Hindenburg quickly withdrew his support (Hindenburg himself owned lots of land)
  • Without this support, Bruning resigned
  • For many German people, the democratic system of Weimar Germany was not working
  • Some people, who had tried hard to support the key principles of democracy, were drawn towards political parties (both left and right wing) with more extreme ideas about how to run the country
• Factors for Hitler and the Nazi's popularity - The appeal of Adolf Hitler


  • Hitler himself had a lot to do with his increasing popularity
  • He had a charismatic personality, and could make people believe that he could be trusted to make Germany a strong nation
  • As a powerful and inspiring speaker, he was able to fill his audiences with hope
• Factors for Hitler and the Nazi's popularity - Fear of the rise of other German extremist parties such as the Communists


  • In 1917, there had been a communists revolution in Russia, and the Communist Party took over all businesses and farms
  • There had been attempts by German communists to take over Germany in the years after the end of the First World War too
  • As a result, middle and upper class Germans, particularly businessmen and landowners, were frightened of German communists
  • They didn't want to lose the wealth and position in society that they had worked so hard to build
  • Communists didn't believe in religious institutions either, so this worried churchgoers too
  • From the start, Hitler said he would fight communism
  • He sent his own private army, the Stormtroopers (SA), to fight with communist gangs
  • Hitler gained support from the German middle and upper classes because he promised to deal with the communist threat
• Factors for Hitler and the Nazi's popularity - Learning from previous failures


  • Hitler thought he could become Germany's ruler by leading armed soldiers in a revolution
  • He tried this in 1923 but his Munich Putsch failed
  • He realised that he needed to change tactics, so he decided to win power legally by winning votes in elections
  • After prison, Hitler and the Nazis started to spread their ideas systematically and to build up support through an effective combination of persuasion and intimidation
• Factors for Hitler and the Nazi's popularity - Nazi Party structure, methods and tactics


  • Nazi Party offices were set up all over Germany to recruit more loyal followers. There were 100,000 men in the SA by 1931, growing to 400,000 by 1932. The SA protected Hitler's meetings and tried to influence voters at elections
  • The Nazi Party made use of propaganda through new media like radio broadcasts and cinema news reports. They also bought newspapers and printed millions of leaflets and posters to persuade and influence Germans to their ways of thinking. Joseph Geobbels was the chief Nazi propagandist from 1928
  • Hitler himself took part in fabulous parades to show off the Nazi power, and rallies where he made passionate speeches
  • The Hitler Youth Organisation was set up to encourage younger followers. Special clubs and camping trips were organised for young Nazis where they could learn to fire guns, wrestle, read maps and built campfires
• Factors for Hitler and the Nazi's popularity - Connection with the public


  • After the depression hit Germany in the 1930s, the Nazis appeared to be the most organised and disciplined group in the country - a party that might restore the nation's strength and power
  • Hitler used new technology in new ways
  • In 1932, he used an aeroplane to take him to 20 cities in seven days to make election speeches
  • This, and his constant use of radio, which had only recently become widely popular, showed how 'in touch' and modern the Nazis were
• Voting for the Nazis - Farmers

  • The Nazis were popular in the countryside
  • Farmers have been hit hard by the Depression; people are not buying as much food and farmers have had to lower prices
  • The Weimar government didn't help farmers either
  • The Nazis have promised farmers higher prices for their crops, a better quality of life, and higher status in German society
  • The Nazis also hate communists - and if communists took over, they would seize the land that families have farmed for generations
• Voting for the Nazis - Women

  • The Nazis appeal to many women voters
  • They say that family life, good morals and self-discipline are important
  • Some women agree with Hitler when he said that over the last 10 years 'our youth have been exposed to a flood of muck and filth, in word and print, in the theatre and in the cinema'
  • The Nazis promise to sort this out
• Voting for the Nazis - Middle-class people

  • Middle-class people - small business owners, bank workers, doctors, managers - vote for the Nazis in large numbers
  • Some people's wages have been cut by the government in the Depression, and large groups of unemployed youths are all over the place
  • The middle class fear that law and order might break down or a communist takeover could destroy their way of life
  • They want the Weimar government to be strong, but they just seem to argue between themselves
  • The Nazis promise to deal with problems decisively, and their Stormtroopers are not afraid to take on communists
  • The Nazis seem to show order and discipline in this time of chaos
• Voting for the Nazis - Young people

  • Hitler is an old soldier who knows the value of a powerful army, navy and air force
  • He promised to tear up the Treaty of Versailles signed by weak Weimar politicians, and make this country strong once more
  • Many young people want to be a part of Germany's bright future and get jobs in the armed forces or building new homes, motorways and hospitals
  • People who have heard Hitler speak are won over by the sheer force of his beliefs
• Voting for the Nazis - The upper class

  • The upper classes and rich factory owners might not support everything the Nazis want, but they do support them on some key issues
  • They have promised the wealthy classes strong leadership and a more powerful nation, like the 'good old days' when Germany was feared and respected throughout Europe
  • Hitler has promised to allow them to run factories how they want and his plans to use their factories to build weapons, battleships and fighter planes mean they might make even more money
  • The Nazis will fight communists too, and not let them take their businesses